Management & Operations

Virginia resort considers replacing trolleys with BRT

Virginia Beach (Va.) officials are considering a $33 million bus rapid transit (BRT) system for the resort area.
The proposed system, which would include 29 stops over almost six miles, would serve the city's new $202.5 million convention center and Oceanfront area.
Stops along as many as three separate routes would feature ticket kiosks and at-grade boarding, reported The Virginian Pilot.
The city is currently negotiating to buy an 11-mile stretch of the Norfolk Southern Railway right-of-way.
The new system, which would cost roughly $5 million per mile to build, would replace the city's fleet of 19 trolleys that serve the resort area.
The 20 new BRT buses, costing an estimated $1 million, carry 120 seated and standing passengers compared to the 25 passengers carried by a trolley.
If approved by the city council, the project could be completed by 2007.

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